Endless love
Manila Standard (page 36), Monday, November 11, 1996 Gil Balaguer and Joel Jimenez: Riding ultra-high on CityNet's year-old success. If the local movie industry is in the doldrums, television is in an upbeat mood especially with the opening up of the UHF brand for commercial broadcast. In Metro Manila alone, we now have five UHF stations -- SBN 21, Studio 23, CityNet 27, RJTV 29 and CTV 31 -- competing for advertising and audience share still dominated by VHF channels. The remarkable thing about this new shift in competition in broadcasting is the unexpected interest two of the UHF channels -- Studio 23 and CityNet 27 -- are generating from among audiences used to VHF programming. Both stations are affiliates of the country's giant networks that have been at odds for a decade now. ABS-CBN-owned Studio 23 (featured on this space last Sept. 25) went on regular telecast only last month, while CityNet 27, bankrolled by GMA, has been on the air for just over a year now. So, what's the upshot in the expanding broadcast airwaves? Former TV sales and marketing guy Dennis Cabalfin said shortly before he left the country for a posting in a more prosperous Southeast Asian economy said, "Market segmentation will redefine the boundaries of broadcasting in the Philippines. With a growing middle class with more disposable income, there will be a need to offer them alternative programs." Although CityNet's Gil Balaguer agrees that there is indeed a demand for alternative programs, he dismisses, however, the idea of market segmentation. "Free TV, either on VHF or UHF, has always been directed towards a general audience. One cannot survive on 'niche programming' which is applicable only to cable TV." Balaguer adds, "CityNet was created with a sense of mission. It is GMA's response to the growing TV audience with a demand for regional and global information. Thus, we developed the tagline 'window to the world' to our station ID." WINDOW TO THE WORLD. The concept of a Philippine TV station as a "window to the world" is manifested by the CityNet's programming grid that is interestingly spread out from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. the following day with feeds from international satellite networks, canned American entertainment shows and locally produced news and public affairs programs. "We would like to focus our thrust on providing the audience with quality entertainment and factual information that can influence positive attitude, values and action," Balaguer explained. To achieve that goal, CityNet has firmed up its alliance with Singapore-based Asia Business News (ABN), CNBC (the cable service of US-based NBC), and Rupert Murdoch;s Star TV network. Weekday morning programming reflects the station's business orientation with ABN Business Hour and CNBC Asian market updates dominating the screen. Afternoon are devoted to animated short features to entice a younger audience. Early to late-evening fare are mostly Hollywood series, like the top-rated Home Improvement, Law and Order and a rerun of Knots Landing. STRENGTHENING PROGRAMMING. The strength of CityNet though lies in its sports programming which goes beyond the usual basketball stuff. Balaguer feels strongly the need to widen the audience's sports experience by featuring coverages of sporting events like tennis and gold. "We might carry something in the future other sports like soccer, both local and international." Balaguer is also training his eye on developing local programming, especially public affairs programs, which other UHF stations seem to have forgotten of ignored saying. "CityNet, despite the perception that it's a high-end station, is still 'free TV'. And, therefore, our responsibility to our audience extends beyond entertainment. We have to inform as well. We have two news programs, one at 9:30 p.m. and another at 12 midnight. We also have a talk show, From the Boardroom, to complement our ABN and CNBC feeds. The purpose of this mix of local and international business-oriented programs is to give our audience a comprehensive view of the worldwide situation. We cannot be too insular in our approach because the world is changing fast and we have to cope with developments leading to the next century.: EXPANSIVE REACH. Transmitting on a 30,000-watt power capacity (with up to 60,000 watts of effective radiated power), CityNet is certain about its claim to have the clearest UHF signal in Metro Manila (although this is now being disputed by Studio 23). And although many skeptics in the broadcasting industry were not at first convinced about the viability of UHF stations in Manila, CityNet 27 is proving them wrong. (I am fairly convinced that ABS-CBN's decision to fast track its UHF project was based mainly on the impressive performance of CityNet 27.) "How can an advertising billing of P1 million a month prove us wrong?" Balaguer asks. "That is the result of our promise when we sent media buyers our proposals that we will deliver to our audience the kind of programming and world-class technical quality lacking in the first days of UHF broadcasting in the Philippines. Convinced that it could be done, the advertisers are now supporting us with sports, and we're not even selling them at discounted rates." This year, CityNet has started an aggressive nationwide expansion by initially putting up stations in Cebu, Davao and Zamboanga, all transmitting programs from Manila via satellite. Balaguer said that by 1999m 30 CityNet stations would have been in place all over the country.